Compassion is the response to the suffering of others that motivates a desire to help.[1][2]

Compassion motivates people to go out of their way to help physical, spiritual, or emotional hurts or pains of another. Compassion is often regarded as having an emotional aspect to it, though when based on cerebral notions such as fairness, justice and interdependence, it may be considered rational in nature and its application understood as an activity based on sound judgment. There is also an aspect of compassion which regards a quantitative dimension, such that individual's compassion is often given a property of "depth," "vigour," or "passion." The etymology of "compassion" is Latin, meaning "co-suffering." More involved than simple empathy, compassion commonly gives rise to an active desire to alleviate another's suffering.[2]

Compassion is often, though not inevitably, the key component in what manifests in the social context as altruism.[citation needed] In ethical terms, the expressions down the ages of the so-called Golden Rule often embodies by implication the principle of compassion: Do to others what you would have them do to you.[3][original research?]

Three theoretical perspectives of compassion have been proposed, which are contrasted by their predictions and approaches of compassion.

Compassion as a synonym of empathic distress, which is characterized by the feeling of distress in connection with another person's suffering.[6][7][8] This perspective of compassion is based on the finding that people sometimes emulate and feel the emotions of people around them.[9]

Compassion is simply a variation of love or sadness, not a distinct emotion.[10]

From the perspective of evolutionary psychology, Compassion can be viewed as a distinct emotional state, which can be differentiated from distress, sadness, and love.[11][12][13]

Identifying with another person is an essential process for human beings. It is commonly seen throughout the world as people adapt and change with new styles of clothing, language, behavior, etc., which is illustrated by infants who begin to mirror the facial expressions and body movements of their mother as early as the first days of their lives.[14] This process is highly related to compassion because sympathizing with others is possible with people from other countries, cultures, locations, etc. A possible source of this process of identifying with others comes from a universal category called "Spirit." Toward the late 1970s, very different cultures and nations around the world took a turn to religious fundamentalism, which has occasionally been attributed to "Spirit."[15] The more one person knows about the human condition and the associated experiences is another route to identification.[16]

The importance of identifying with others for compassion is contrasted by the negative physical and psychological effects of abandonment. Compassion seems to be characteristic of democratic societies.[16] The role of compassion as a factor contributing to individual or societal behavior has been the topic of continuous debate.[17] In contrast to the process of identifying with other people, a complete absence of compassion may require ignoring or disapproving identification with other people or groups.[16] This concept has been illustrated throughout history: The Holocaust, Genocide, European colonization of the Americas, etc. The seemingly essential step in these atrocities could be the defining of the victims as "not human" or "not us." The atrocities committed throughout human history have only been relieved through the presence of compassion.[16][18]

Suffering has been defined as the perception of a person's impending destruction or loss of integrity, which continues until the threat is gone or the person's integrity can be restored.[16]Personality psychology agrees that people are inherently different and distinct from one another, which should lead to the conclusion that human suffering is always individual and unique. Suffering can result from psychological, social, and physical trauma.[19] It appears to happen in acute forms as often as chronically.[19] There is an inherent difficulty in knowing that someone else is suffering because of its lonely nature, which leads to the conclusion that many people may not know they are suffering. They may instead point to their external circumstances with the early stages of suffering being quiet or not discussed. The later stages may involve the person expressing their victimization and searching for help.[20] Compassion is recognized through identifying with other people, the knowledge of human behavior, the perception of suffering, transfer of feelings, knowledge of goal and purpose changes in sufferers, and the absence of the sufferer from a group.[16]

Earlier studies established the links between interpersonal violence and animal cruelty.[21][22] Compassion may have the ability to induce feelings of kindness and forgiveness, which could give people the ability to stop situations that occasionally lead to violence.[23]

Compassion has become associated with and researched in the fields of positive psychology and social psychology. The Dalai Lama once said that "compassion is a necessity, not a luxury",[24] and that "it is a question of human survival".[25] Compassion is a process of connecting by identifying with another person. This identification with others through compassion can lead to increased motivation to do something in an effort to relieve the suffering of others.

Scientists examine the motivated regulation of compassion in the context of large-scale crises, such as natural disasters and genocides. Much research has established that people tend to feel more compassion for single identifiable victims than large masses of victims (the Identifiable victim effect). Yet they have found that this collapse of compassion depends on having the motivation and ability to regulate emotions.[26] People only show less compassion for many victims than for single victims of disasters when they expect to incur a financial cost upon helping, and only when they can skillfully regulate their emotions. In ongoing research, psychologists are exploring how concerns about becoming emotionally exhausted may motivate people to curb their compassion for—and dehumanize—members of stigmatized social groups, such as homeless individuals and drug addicts.[27]

Compassion consists of three major requirements: People must feel that troubles that evoke their feelings are serious, people require that sufferers' troubles are not self-inflicted, and that people must be able to picture themselves with the same problems.[16]

In a 2009 small fMRI experiment, Mary Helen Immordino-Yang and colleagues at the Brain and Creativity Institute studied strong feelings of compassion for social and physical pain in others. Both feelings involved an expected change in activity in the anterior insula, anterior cingulate, hypothalamus, and midbrain, but they also found a previously undescribed pattern of cortical activity on the posterior medial surface of each brain hemisphere, a region involved in the default mode of brain function, and implicated in self-related processes. Compassion for social pain in others was associated with strong activation in the interoceptive, inferior/posterior portion of this region, while compassion for physical pain in others involved heightened activity in the exteroceptive, superior/anterior portion. Compassion for social pain activated this superior/anterior section, to a lesser extent. Activity in the anterior insula related to compassion for social pain peaked later and endured longer than that associated with compassion for physical pain.[28] Compassionate emotions in relation to others has effects on the prefrontal cortex, inferior frontal cortex, and the midbrain.[28] Feelings and acts of compassion have been found to simulate areas known to regulate homeostasis, such as insular cortex and hypothalamus.[29]

In one study conducted by Jill Rilling and Gregory Berns, neuroscientists at Emory University, subjects’ brain activity was recorded while they helped someone in need. It was found that while the subjects were preforming compassionate acts the caudate nucleus and anterior cingulate regions of the brain were activated, the same areas of the brain associated with pleasure and reward. This research sheds light on how acting on compassion induces a positive feeling in people and how humans are innately wired to want to help the suffering.[30]

Compassion is one of the most important attributes for physicians practicing medical services.[31] It has been suggested that felt compassion brings about the desire to do something to help the sufferer.[16] That desire to be helpful is not compassion, but it does suggest that compassion is similar to other emotions by motivating behaviors to reduce the tension brought on by the emotion.[16] Physicians generally identify their central duties as the responsibility to put the patient's interests first, including the duty not to harm, deliver proper care, and maintain confidentiality.[16] Compassion is seen in each of those duties because of its direct relation to the recognition and treatment of suffering.[16] Physicians who use compassion understand the effects of sickness and suffering on human behavior.[32] Compassion may be closely related to love and the emotions evoked in both. This is illustrated by the relationship between patients and physicians in medical institutions.[16] The relationship between suffering patients and their care-givers provides evidence that compassion is a social emotion, which is highly related to closeness between individuals.

According to Figley, individuals with a higher capacity or responsibility to empathize with others may be at risk for "compassion fatigue" or stress, which is related to professionals and individuals who spend a significant amount of time responding to information related to suffering.[33] However, newer research by Singer and Ricard suggests that it is empathy which gets fatigued and not compassion.[34] Recent research suggests that compassion could even prevent fatigue and burnout.[35]

Specific activities may increase feelings of and readiness to practice compassion; some of these activities include creating a morning ritual, practicing empathy, practice random acts of kindness, and creating evening routines.

Conversely, a 2012 study of the historical Jesus has claimed that the founder of Christianity sought to elevate Judaic compassion as the supreme human virtue, capable of reducing suffering and fulfilling our God-ordained purpose of transforming the world into something more worthy of its creator.[38]

Yoga aims at physical, mental and spiritual purification, with a compassionate mind and spirit being one of its most important goals.[39] Various asanas and mudras are combined with meditation and self-reflection exercises to cultivate compassion.[40][41]

In classical literature of Hinduism, compassion[42] is a virtue with many shades, each shade explained by different terms. Three most common terms are daya (दया),[43]karuna (करुणा),[44] and anukampa (अनुकम्पा).[45] Other words related to compassion in Hinduism include karunya, ghrina, kripa, and anukrosha.[46][47] Some of these words are used interchangeably among the schools of Hinduism to explain the concept of compassion, its sources, its consequences and its nature. The virtue of compassion to all living beings, claim Gandhi and others,[48][49] is a central concept in Hindu philosophy.[42]

Daya is defined by Padma Purana as the virtuous desire to mitigate the sorrow and difficulties of others by putting forth whatever effort necessary.[46][50] Matsya Purana describes daya as the value that treats all living beings (including human beings) as one's own self, wanting the welfare and good of the other living being.[46][51] Such compassion, claims Matsya Purana, is one of necessary paths to being happy. Ekadashi Tattvam[52] explains daya is treating a stranger, a relative, a friend and a foe as one's own self; it argues that compassion is that state when one sees all living beings as part of one's own self, and when everyone's suffering is seen as one's own suffering. Compassion to all living beings, including to those who are strangers and those who are foes, is seen as a noble virtue.[46]Karuna, another word for compassion in Hindu philosophy, means placing one's mind in other's favor, thereby seeking to understand the other from their perspective. Anukampa, yet another word for compassion, refers to one's state after one has observed and understood the pain and suffering in other.[53][54] In Mahabharata, Indra praises Yudhishthira for his anukrosha — compassion, sympathy — for all creatures.[55]Tulsidas contrasts daya (compassion) with abhiman (arrogance, contempt of others), claiming compassion is a source of dharmic life, while arrogance a source of sin. Daya (compassion) is not kripa (pity) in Hinduism, or feeling sorry for the sufferer, because that is marred with condescension; compassion is feeling one with the sufferer.[56] Compassion is the basis for ahimsa, a core virtue in Hindu philosophy.[57][58]

Compassion in Hinduism is discussed as an absolute and relative concept. There are two forms of compassion: one for those who suffer even though they have done nothing wrong and one for those who suffer because they did something wrong. Absolute compassion applies to both, while relative compassion addresses the difference between the former and the latter. An example of the latter include those who plead guilty or are convicted of a crime such as murder; in these cases, the virtue of compassion must be balanced with the virtue of justice.[46][59]

The classical literature of Hinduism exists in many Indian languages. For example, Tirukkuṛaḷ, written between 200 BC and AD 400, and sometimes called the Tamil Veda, is a cherished classic on Hinduism written in a South Indian language. It dedicates Chapter 25 of Book 1 to compassion,[60] further dedicating separate chapters each for the resulting values of compassion, chiefly, vegetarianism or veganism (Chapter 26), doing no harm (Chapter 32), non-killing (Chapter 33), possession of kindness (Chapter 8), dreading evil deeds (Chapter 21), benignity (Chapter 58), the right scepter (Chapter 55), and absence of terrorism (Chapter 57), to name a few.[61]

Compassion for all life, human and non-human, is central to the Jain tradition. Though all life is considered sacred, human life is deemed the highest form of earthly existence. To kill any person, no matter their crime, is considered unimaginably abhorrent. It is the only substantial religious tradition that requires both monks and laity to be vegetarian. It is suggested that certain strains of the Hindu tradition became vegetarian due to strong Jain influences.[62] The Jain tradition's stance on nonviolence, however, goes far beyond vegetarianism. Jains refuse food obtained with unnecessary cruelty. Many practice veganism. Jains run animal shelters all over India. The Lal Mandir, a prominent Jain temple in Delhi, is known for the Jain Birds Hospital in a second building behind the main temple.[63][64] Every city and town in Bundelkhand has animal shelters run by Jains. Jain monks go to lengths to avoid killing any living creature, sweeping the ground in front of them to avoid killing insects and even wearing a face mask to avoid inhaling the smallest fly.

In the Jewish tradition, God is the Compassionate and is invoked as the Father of Compassion:[65] hence Raḥmana or Compassionate becomes the usual designation for His revealed word. (Compare, below, the frequent use of raḥman in the Quran).[66] Sorrow and pity for one in distress, creating a desire to relieve it, is a feeling ascribed alike to man and God: in Biblical Hebrew, ("riḥam," from "reḥem," the mother, womb), "to pity" or "to show mercy" in view of the sufferer's helplessness, hence also "to forgive" (Hab. iii. 2), "to forbear" (Ex. ii. 6; I Sam. xv. 3; Jer. xv. 15, xxi. 7). The Rabbis speak of the "thirteen attributes of compassion." The Biblical conception of compassion is the feeling of the parent for the child. Hence the prophet's appeal in confirmation of his trust in God invokes the feeling of a mother for her offspring (Isa. xlix. 15).[66]

A classic articulation of the Golden Rule (see above) came from the first century Rabbi Hillel the Elder. Renowned in the Jewish tradition as a sage and a scholar, he is associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud and, as such, one of the most important figures in Jewish history. Asked for a summary of the Jewish religion in the "while standing on one leg" meaning in the most concise terms, Hillel stated: "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah. The rest is the explanation; go and learn."[67] Post 9/11, the words of Rabbi Hillel are frequently quoted in public lectures and interviews around the world by the prominent writer on comparative religion Karen Armstrong.

Many Jewish sources speak of the importance of compassion for animals. Significant rabbis who have done so include Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch,[68] Rabbi Simhah Zissel Ziv,[69] and Rabbi Moshe Cordovero.[70]

The first of what in English are called the Four Noble Truths is the truth of suffering or dukkha (unsatisfactoriness or stress). Dukkha is identified as one of the three distinguishing characteristics of all conditioned existence. It arises as a consequence of the failure to adapt to change or anicca (the second characteristic) and the insubstantiality, lack of fixed identity, the horrendous lack of certainty of anatta (the third characteristic) to which all this constant change in turn gives rise. Compassion made possible by observation and accurate perception is the appropriate practical response. The ultimate and earnest wish, manifest in the Buddha, both as archetype and as historical entity, is to relieve the suffering of all living beings everywhere.[71]

The Dalai Lama has said, "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."[72] The American monkBhikkhu Bodhi states that compassion "supplies the complement to loving-kindness: whereas loving-kindness has the characteristic of wishing for the happiness and welfare of others, compassion has the characteristic of wishing that others be free from suffering, a wish to be extended without limits to all living beings. Like metta, compassion arises by entering into the subjectivity of others, by sharing their interiority in a deep and total way. It springs up by considering that all beings, like ourselves, wish to be free from suffering, yet despite their wishes continue to be harassed by pain, fear, sorrow, and other forms of dukkha."[73]

At the same time, it is emphasised that to manifest effective compassion for others it is first of all necessary to be able to experience and fully appreciate one's own suffering and to have, as a consequence, compassion for oneself. The Buddha is reported to have said, "It is possible to travel the whole world in search of one who is more worthy of compassion than oneself. No such person can be found."[citation needed]

Compassion in action: an 18th-century Italian depiction of the Parable of the Good Samaritan

The Christian Bible's Second Epistle to the Corinthians is but one place where God is spoken of as the "Father of compassion" and the "God of all comfort." It reads as follows: 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort." Jesus embodies for Christians, the very essence of compassion and relational care. Christ challenges Christians to forsake their own desires and to act compassionately towards others, particularly those in need or distress.[74] Jesus assures his listeners in the Sermon on the Mount that, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." In the Parable of the Good Samaritan he holds up to his followers the ideal of compassionate conduct. True Christian compassion, say the Gospels, should extend to all, even to the extent of loving one's enemies.

Isaiah 54:10 Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the Lord, who has compassion on you. This is a good example of the kind of compassion the Lord has for us. The physical world can be moved, yet the love will not be moved.

A 1930s photograph of a desert traveler seeking the assistance of Allah the Merciful, the Compassionate

In the Muslim tradition, foremost among God'sattributes are mercy and compassion or, in the canonical language of Arabic, Rahman and Rahim. Each of the 114 chapters of the Quran, with one exception, begins with the verse, "In the name of Allah the Compassionate, the Merciful."[75] The Arabic word for compassion is rahmah. As a cultural influence, its roots abound in the Quran. A good Muslim is to commence each day, each prayer and each significant action by invoking Allah the Merciful and Compassionate, i.e., by reciting Bism-i-llah a-Rahman-i-Rahim. The womb and family ties are characterized by compassion and named after the exalted attribute of Allah "Al-Rahim" (The Compassionate).

Islam teaches compassion.

Certainly a Messenger has come to you from among yourselves; grievous to him is your falling into distress, excessively solicitous respecting you; to the believers (he is) compassionate.